First Date
by ebi pers
Summary: Tadashi is a nervous, stuttering, awkward mess thanks to his first date with a friend. Hiro is amused. And disgusted. Tadahoney, of course. Oneshot.


**A/N: I know I promised more Big Hero 6 so I'm delivering! Now I was planning on debuting another story but it's finals week and I haven't actually slept for real in probably four days. All I could muster was a oneshot but since you guys are clamoring for more, I just couldn't leave you hanging! Now I was considering doing more Tadashi and Hiro brotherly interactions (I have an idea for that) but Tadahoney has captured my attention as of late and I decided I would go with sappy feels for this one instead. Thanks, Tumblr! There will be longer stories and more Tadashi and Hiro coming. In the meantime, please read and review and enjoy!**

**Side note: All of my BH6 stories will be on one timeline. So what you read in "These Are the Things" should be considered future canon for the purposes of my fanfiction. Bear that in mind, especially for any future pieces I produce because reading them all (even out of order) will give you better insight into what's going on and I may allude to previous works further down the road. Just a head's up!**

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><p>Tadashi Hamada was…nervous. This was such an unfamiliar feeling for someone who was usually so competent, put together, not cocky like Hiro but secure in his own being. And yet, here he was, standing in front of the full-length mirror and anxiously tugging at his shirt collar as Hiro looked on from his seat with an amused smirk.<p>

"Do I look okay?" Tadashi asked his younger brother for the umpteenth time.

Hiro rolled his eyes. "Fix your face and maybe you will."

"Hiro, I meant my clothes," Tadashi fixed his younger brother with a scowl.

The boy shrugged. "She's seen you in your normal clothes before, hasn't she? I don't see what the big deal is." He hopped off the chair, bored with the conversation and watching his brother hopelessly adjust his appearance over and over again.

Tadashi put a palm to his forehead. "It doesn't _matter _Hiro! She's gonna look nice, so I have to look nice, too. If you knew her, you'd understand."

"Well then maybe you should invite her over!" the younger Hamada suggested mischievously.

"So that you could find a way to make me look like an idiot in front of her, bonehead?" the older brother answered back, a sly smile tugging at his features.

"Besides," Hiro changed the subject, "you're going to one of those stuck-up restaurants downtown. It's dark. She can't see anyway," the younger boy scoffed, making for the door.

Tadashi checked the time and felt his heart skip a beat. He was due to pick her up in _fifteen _minutes! He quickly shrugged himself into his brown sport coat and pulled his socks up as he half-leapt, half-tumbled down the stairs, awakening Mochi from his nap on the landing and sending the overweight cat scrambling out of the way for dear life.

"Okay, I'm leaving, bye Aunt Cass!" he shouted in a single breath so that every word ran into the next in an endless stream.

"Later, king of the nerds," Hiro called. "Have fun on your _date_."

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><p>He was two minutes early when his moped puttered to a halt outside Honey Lemon's house and again those <em>butterflies <em>were floating around his quickly tightening stomach. He had known her for a while now—since orientation day at SFIT—and he knew that he shouldn't reasonably be this nervous, but it didn't change the way he felt. He left the moped at the curb, panicking when he nearly forgot to engage the kickstand and felt it tip perilously, scrambling to catch it.

Dusting himself off after the near miss and hoping to appear at least somewhat collected, Tadashi took a deep breath, straightened his posture, and approached the front door of Honey Lemon's house. He paused to steady himself, then pressed the doorbell and promptly felt his heart drop into the pit of his stomach again.

There was some shuffling from behind the door before it opened, revealing Honey Lemon's tall, slender frame, clothed in a bright, multicolored dress and dramatically backlit by the yellow glow emanating from her foyer. Tadashi thought his heart might stop. She flashed a smile, then turned and called over her shoulder, "He's here bye mom bye dad." She shut the door behind her with a slam before standing on the porch with him.

"Hi, Tadashi," she finally addressed him.

"H-hi," he stammered, already turning bright red and feeling like an idiot. "Y-you look…nice." He gestured to her outfit. _Idiot! _He berated himself. He had practiced exactly what to say over and over again in his head and he sounded so smooth every time. Now he was a stuttering, stammering mess that could barely articulate a single thought.

"Thanks," the blonde blushed. "You look great, too!"

"Thanks," Tadashi answered, scratching the back of his neck. They stood there for a moment, Honey Lemon looking over the porch rail behind him and Tadashi glancing at the ground, shifting his weight from foot to foot.

"So," she finally spoke up, shoulders rising in a subconsciously shy effort to appear smaller.

"So…" he repeated.

"Should we…go?"

"Go? Oh! Go! Yeah, l-let's…let's go," he laughed awkwardly.

He led her toward his moped and handed her his spare helmet. She put it on, the straps just fitting around her slender, heart-shaped face.

"S-sorry it doesn't fit better," he apologized. "I bought it for Hiro…it's the only one I've got."

"It fits fine," she reassured him, tapping the top of the helmet and sliding onto the back of the scooter.

Tadashi grinned, strapped on his own helmet, and climbed on, engaging the ignition. The scooter kicked to life with a slight cough and began to hum quietly. He pushed away from the curb and the pair drove toward downtown, Honey Lemon's slim arms encircling his waist.

"So where are we going?" she asked, speaking loudly in order to be heard over the moped's motor, even though she was so close to his ear.

"It's a surprise," he hazarded a glance back to shoot her what he hoped was a winning smile.

"I love surprises!" she giggled in response.

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><p>"<em>Nori<em>?!" Honey Lemon exclaimed in delight. "I've been dying to eat here since it opened! Tadashi, it takes months to get a reservation here! How did you manage?"

"I have my ways…" he grinned as he held the door open for her. _Mostly the fact that the owner owed Aunt Cass a favor_, he thought to himself.

"Reservation for Hamada," he announced to the host at the front.

The host checked the computer records, then nodded. "Yes, you're on the list. Right this way please," he grabbed two menus and seated the couple in a small booth in a corner of the restaurant.

"I hear the onigiri here is _amazing_!" Honey Lemon told him in a sing-song voice, barely able to contain her excitement.

"I know it's your favorite…"

"Thank you," she smiled coyly, raising the menu up to conceal her rapidly blushing face. No date had ever been this thoughtful. No date had every really considered her favorites, her wants. Then again, she'd only been on two dates in her whole life excluding tonight. Most men seemed to be put off by her intelligence, or else they severely underestimated her. Either way, Honey Lemon didn't seem to have much luck. Not that she wanted to be with a man who couldn't accept her for who she was. She just had a knack for being attracted to that kind of guy.

GoGo always told her "if they can't appreciate you for who you are, they aren't worth your time." It was an oft-repeated mantra throughout their high school years when she would inevitably fall for some guy who would never be comfortable dating a girl that was smarter than him. Or more capable than him. Or _taller _than him.

Tadashi, though. Tadashi was different. He wasn't intimidated by a girl smarter than him. She wasn't even sure she could say she was smarter than him per se. Their areas of study were so vastly different. She had no clue how to design and engineer robots but he could barely balance a chemical equation, let alone mix volatile compounds safely. And they had been friends long before they ever got to this point. She felt comfortable with him and the fact that they were here, in Nori, a restaurant she'd mentioned several times before, only confirmed the fact that taking Tadashi up on his offer was the right decision.

They ordered their food and the waiter took the menus, leaving both of them feeling a little jittery and nervous, no longer able to hide behind them to regain their composure.

It was ridiculous. They both knew it. They'd been friends since the beginning of college—almost a year, now. There was no reason why they shouldn't feel comfortable with each other. They'd eaten together plenty of times. Tadashi had seen her sleep-deprived, makeup free, and in paint-splattered sweatpants during finals and she had watched him literally empty an entire bag of potato chips into his mouth at once and chew them—mouth open—in a stress-induced eating binge when his first semester project was due. They had seen each other at the most unflattering times. Why were they suddenly so nervous?

"So," Tadashi cleared his throat. "What have you been working on in the lab lately?" He winced internally. _School? Is that all I've got to talk about?_

Honey Lemon seemed flattered by his interest but fiddled with the corner of her cloth napkin as she answered, not quite meeting his eyes. "Well…I've recently been working on metal embrittlement using chemical compounds. It's really cool if I could just get it to work but I'm still testing compounds and different metals. I want to be able to use it to help people—you know, make devices that can basically turn metal into dust and free people from car accidents or a building collapse, things like that. Maybe it can even be applied to robotics technology. We could make robots that are able to save people using those compounds. My professor thinks it's coming along well but I'm not…sure…" she trailed off, realizing she was rambling. "Sorry. I-It's stupid."

"Huh? No! Why would you say it's stupid?" Tadashi seemed genuinely surprised by her comment.

She shrugged, a little surprised herself. "It's just…I was just talking a lot and I thought…"

"I thought it was cool!" he exclaimed. "Something like that could be really useful for…" He found himself trailing off as well.

"For what?"

"Just my project…" The waiter poured tea and he mumbled a thank you.

"You mean the one that's been keeping you in the lab late at night?"

"Y-you know about that?"

"Tadashi, everyone knows you've been putting in extra hours at the lab. I drove past there the other night because I forgot something and I saw the light in your office on. What…what are you working on in there?"

The waiter set the plate of onigiri between the two and Honey Lemon's green eyes lit up behind her pink-framed glasses.

"These are my _favorite_!" she seized one with her chopsticks and had half of it already in her mouth before Tadashi could even pick one up. She met his gaze as a grain of rice fell from her lips and she blushed bright red, causing her date to chuckle. "Sorry," she tried to mumble but it came out as a muffled mess as more rice dropped and she lifted her hand to her mouth to block him from seeing. To her amazement (and amusement) Tadashi just picked up one of the rice rolls himself and shoveled it into his mouth as quickly as she had, winning the pair a few dirty looks from other, extremely well-dressed patrons. She giggled.

"So you never told me what you're working on in there," she said after waiting for both of them to finish chewing and swallowing.

"Oh, that," Tadashi took a sip of his tea. "I'm surprised you guys haven't seen it yet…I mean it's not like I'm keeping it locked away or anything."

"What is it?" she persisted.

"Well…it's a robot. But one that's going to help a lot of people. If I can ever get it to work properly, that is."

"What does it do?" Honey Lemon seemed intrigued.

"He's a personal healthcare companion. Fred calls him Baymax so that's the name I'm sticking with for now. He's programmed with thousands of different illnesses and injuries that he can diagnose and treat. I'm so close to completing him, I can feel it…" he broke off again. "Anyway, I know that's probably not what you want to talk about…"

"I think it's great!" she managed to get out around a mouthful of food. "If you need help…I mean I'm not good at programming or anything but just tell me if you need anything!"

He beamed and took another sip of tea shyly.

* * *

><p>The cherry blossoms in the park were always one of Tadashi's favorite things. His parents used to take him and Hiro there when they were much younger for picnics or to run around the koi ponds. Maybe that's why he liked it there so much. He had continued going there long after his parents' death, often visiting when he needed to clear his mind or felt stuck with his projects or schoolwork. Tonight he decided to share this special place with Honey Lemon.<p>

"They're so beautiful," she gasped in awe of the small, pink petals that drifted lazily through the night air.

"This is where I come when I need to think," he told her as she reached out her hand to catch a floating blossom. She admired the softness of the petal briefly, then opened her palm and allowed it to carry on with the breeze.

It felt surreal to Tadashi, to share this place with another person. Even Hiro had probably forgotten about this park, seeing as his younger brother never came with him when he offered. There was an intimacy to this park—he had hit upon some truly great ideas here. The concept of Baymax was born here. He also did a great deal of soul-searching here—thinking about where he was going. What he wanted to do. How to help people. If his parents were proud. He had resisted sharing this place for so long, often evaded his friends' questions if they asked where he'd been during their lunch break. But he was glad that he could share it with Honey Lemon, that she found the park to be just as beautiful, peaceful, that she respected what this place meant to him.

"Thanks for showing it to me," she whispered as they paused on the bridge over one of the koi ponds, staring at their reflections in the clear water. She turned to face him, their heights exactly even so that she was staring straight into his warm, brown eyes.

"You're welcome," he murmured in response, returning her gaze. He felt drawn to her, wanted to kiss her, but wasn't sure if that would be a welcome gesture. Honey Lemon wasn't like any other girl he'd ever met before. She was genuine. Everything she appeared as, everything she said was authentic. It represented what was on her mind, how she felt. She had no qualms about being herself and it was refreshing to him after being surrounded by so many people who felt that they had to prove something, to pretend to live a different life for the sake of impressing others. Honey Lemon was impressive enough on her own and that made her almost magnetic.

Their faces were inches apart. Honey Lemon could barely breathe. She wanted to close the distance but wasn't sure if that was okay. She had never been kissed before, had never kissed a date before. The only two dates she had ever found herself on ended disastrously. They had never progressed this far. And yet, here she was, standing in a place she never knew existed. That Tadashi had just showed her. It was beautiful and she felt like she was getting a glimpse into a side of her friend that she had never seen before. It was altogether fascinating and beautiful. Tadashi always seemed so focused and put-together. She could barely picture a vulnerable side of him. There was something so intimate about it and she could feel her heart fluttering rapidly in her chest, Tadashi's lips so close to hers.

Tadashi's voice pulled her out of her thoughts. "C-can I…" he began, right hand gripping the back of his neck nervously, "I mean I-I'd like to…to…kiss you," his voice was barely a squeak and the tips of his ears were burning bright red. He looked shocked that it had come out of his mouth.

Honey Lemon's breath hitched in her throat and she wanted to squeal with delight but fought the urge. "Yes!" She reached up in a flurry of excitement and pressed her lips to his.

Tadashi was surprised she had actually said yes, was actually _kissing _him right now, but recovered quickly. Her fingers laced around his neck and he felt a little weak in the knees and she balanced herself against him on one leg like she had seen in every romantic animated film in her life and this was more incredible than anything either had ever felt before and neither ever wanted to pull away. He wasn't sure what he imagined it to feel like but he was pretty sure this was way better than anything he could have thought of.

_So this is it. This is what a first kiss feels like._

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><p>"Thanks for coming out with me tonight," Tadashi murmured as they stood on her porch. Honey Lemon noticed that the smile hadn't left his lips since the park. She was alright with that. The blush hadn't fully left her cheeks yet.<p>

"I had a great time," she answered readily. "I…I was wondering if we could do it again sometime?"

The young man seemed surprised by the proposition, like he hadn't expected it to happen. "Yes! I mean…yeah, definitely!"

"I should go inside…"

"Y-yeah. Um…see you tomorrow?"

Honey Lemon grinned. "See you tomorrow."

He turned and began to head down her porch steps.

"Tadashi?"

He turned and was greeted with a peck on the lips that caught him completely off guard and was over much too quickly.

"Thank you," she whispered. He smiled, nodded in a complete daze. "Good night!" she called over her shoulder.

"G-good night." He got on his moped and let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

The apartment was dark by the time he got back and he was sure everyone had gone to bed already. Mochi was sleeping fitfully in the corner, the cat's snores coming out more like purrs than anything else. He tiptoed quietly up the stairs so as not to wake anyone, crept quietly into the bedroom he and Hiro shared.

"How'd it go?"

"Ah!" Tadashi jumped and turned to face his younger brother, sitting up in bed with a smug look on his face. "It…it went well," he answered, trying not to let on too much, knowing full well the kid wouldn't let him hear the end of it.

"Well? You went to all that trouble just for it to go _well_?" Tadashi wanted to punch the gap-toothed smirk right off his brother's face. He retreated behind the rice-paper screen and collapsed onto the bed, letting his mind wander over everything, a wisp of a smile spreading over his features.

"Is that _lipstick _on your face?!"

"Hiro!" He was staring right into his brother's face, the boy's expression a combination of disgust and mischievousness. He wondered when the kid had invaded his side of the room. "Go to bed!"

"With pleasure," Hiro answered. "I don't want to know about your gross nerd date with your gross nerd kissing and your gross nerd mating rituals…ugh…" he mock shivered.

The lights went out. Tadashi stared up at the ceiling. He could feel his ears getting heated as he thought back on the night. He still couldn't stop smiling.

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><p><strong>AN: This. This took four days to complete thanks to finals (which end today thank the maker). I worked on it as a way of procrastinating/avoiding wanting to ram my head into a wall. So I hope you guys liked it. I was hesitant to post it—it's been a LONG time since I wrote anything sappy so I'm a little rusty. But the Tadahoney feels were too strong to leave it alone. Yes, they were each other's first kiss...I'm just a writing cliche aren't I? And yes Hiro is grossed out because he doesn't know how great Honey Lemon is yet. I actually have another short BH6 series in the works that involves how Tadashi met his friends in the first place. When that's done I'll post it but in the meantime, please enjoy this oneshot and remember that all my BH6 fanfic are on one timeline…which means that Tadashi won't die if you read my other series :D**

**ALSO: VERY IMPORTANT VERY IMPORTANT VERY IMPORTANT: I want to keep my writing skills sharp and now that my semester ended I've got a month of free time (more or less). So if you guys have any prompts or ideas you'd like to see turned into a Big Hero 6 fanfiction, I'm open to suggestions. I make no promises on what will get written but I'd love to see what you guys come up with and I'll write as many as I can!**


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